Manual · Chapter 2
Create a Project and Load Photos
ViolaScope organizes your work in projects. A project combines the photos you are reviewing with the ratings, labels, culling decisions, tags and other information created during your workflow.
What is a ViolaScope project?
A project is the central working unit in ViolaScope.
It keeps the photo resources used by the project together with the project information that belongs to them.
This includes information such as:
- star ratings
- favorites
- color labels
- culling decisions
- tags
- location information assigned within ViolaScope
- other project-specific organizational data
This allows you to close the application and continue working with the same project later.
Create a new project
Before reviewing photos, create a ViolaScope project.
Give the project a clear name that makes it easy to identify later.
A project can represent a photo session, a trip, an event, a collection or any other group of photos that you want to review together.
Once the project has been created, it becomes the active project and you can begin loading photos.
Load photos
Use Load Photos to select the source containing the photos you want to review.
ViolaScope examines the selected files and adds the usable photos to the project workflow.
After loading is complete, the photos become available in the workspace and filmstrip.
You can then begin reviewing, rating and organizing them immediately.
The original source and the project
The folder from which you initially load photos is the original source.
ViolaScope distinguishes this source from the photo resources managed as part of the project workflow.
The original source therefore remains separate from the ongoing project state.
This distinction is important when you later move, archive or back up a project.
Load additional photos later
A project does not have to be completed in a single loading operation.
You can use Load Photos again later to add further photos to the active project.
This is useful when, for example, additional memory cards, folders or photo sets become available after the project has already been created.
Existing ratings, labels and other project information remain part of the project while additional photos are added.
Working with larger photo sets
ViolaScope is designed to support the review of larger photo collections.
After loading a larger set, you do not need to process every photo immediately.
You can review the collection gradually and use ratings, culling states, tags and filters to reduce the visible set as your selection develops.
The filmstrip and the different viewing modes provide several ways to move through the current photo set.
Reopen an existing project
You can return to an existing ViolaScope project and continue working with the project state already stored for its photos.
Ratings, favorites, color labels, culling decisions, tags and other project information remain associated with the project.
This allows a review session to be interrupted and continued later without having to repeat the previous organizational work.
Keep the project data safe
Once a project contains photos and review information, the project folder becomes part of your important working data.
It should therefore be included in a regular backup strategy.
A later chapter explains in detail how the project folder, managed photo resources, catalog information, exports and backups relate to each other.
Next step
Once photos are available in the project, you can begin the actual review process.
The next chapter explains how to navigate through your photos and use the main workspace for reviewing them.